.A.N.T.

Yeah, was a tight fit coming out so will be interesting getting it back in again. But for ease of wiring it really made a difference...

Following on from the issues with the car starting over the last couple of days (complete refusal to even think about it) I had a once over in the engine bay and noticed that down by the airbox there's a pipe, 1.5" in diameter that comes out the back of the airbox and goes through a sensor and up into the air intake. What is this, as it was disconnected at the airbox end. Would this stop the car from starting? No idea how it came off though as I'm sure it was on last time I was in there... Cheers, Ant.

Take the glove box out!! Never done this before last night and always had a nightmare trying to get all the wires in behind the stereo... Last night I took the glovebox out and it left a little opening into the stereo area which meant I could reach in and feed the wires back without pulling on them too much... So much easier! don't believe it's taken 7-8 years of having the car to work this one out!! Cheers, Ant.

Started this morning... Who knows what's up with it!! Last night spent about 3 hours taking out everything I'd put in, checking the wiring looking over the engine bay making sure everything was as it should be, but it still wouldn't start. This morning thought I'd give it a go before I went to work and after 3-4 seconds it fired. It now restarts fine... :cuckoo: I think I might have fixed something last night, but because I'd been trying to start it the engine was flooded so wouldn't fire. This morning it's dried out so it can now fire... Didn't drive it to work as I'd rather it didn't start in my driveway than outside work! No idea what was wrong with it though...

Spent a couple of hours last night fitting one of the Pioneer DEH-88P's with an ipod adaptor in and now the damn car won't start!! There was a fair bit of excess wiring behind there that I removed, though none of it was 'unknown'. I traced all of it back to the source and most was unused speaker wire as everything is now amped. Stereo's in and working fine but now the car won't start. Turns over fast, there's sparks at the plugs and a smell of petrol after a while. Can't work out why it won't start. The only thing I can think of is that something on the alarm got dislodged and now it's not removing one of the immobiliser circuits. (Though I'm not sure if it was ever imobilised anyway as you could start the car even with the alarm going off...) Going to pull everything out tonight and see if there's anything obvious loose behind there. Just seems coincidental that it stops working now after I've been playing around by the alarm brain... 88P though seems like a nice stereo!! As a fall back option, does anyone know any mobile alarm fitters around the Dorking area??

I was in exactly the same situation, my bike would fit across the back seat, but it meant only 1 bike could fit, so the journey to Wales was a bit lonely! Did have all the amps attached to a sub box which sat flush against the rear seats, but if I took that out then the amps went and I had no sounds. So built an MDF panel which sat in the space between the wheelarch and the light cluster on the left of the boot for the 4 channel amp and left the sub amp attached to the box. Now I just undo 3 wires (removing fuse so it doesn't spark) and pull out the box, then the seats fold flat and the speakers are all amped... Took an hour or so to get the mdf the right size and fitting properly. Was quite lucky as the 4ch amp was quite small and fitted ok... Only issue I found was that without a parcel shelf the amp is on display and left for hours in car parks... So I use the towels and stuff we put between the bikes to stop them rubbing to cover the amp as though they'd just been piled there and not cos they're covering something...

Cool, cheers. Will get a replacement ordered up...

Got a lift up in the end... Meant I could sleep on the way!! replacing the oil cooler this week, so hopefully that will solve it. If not then it's a new head gasket... :mad2: Cheers for the advice...

Looks like I've got a broken sensor down by the distributer. Anyone know what it's there for? The metal part has snapped away and the wire won't attach to it... DSC03315.JPG[/attachment:2ifkt0k4] The one to the left of the double wired sensor. There should be a plastic inlet that goes in the hole there, but it's leaking and I've taken it off. (the photo is on it's side, up is to the right if that makes sense) Don't worry about the red, that was some dye I put in to try and find a leak in the coolant system... Thanks!

Tomorrow I'm supposed to be driving to North Wales (from Surrey) to go riding up there. Problem is, I have just checked my water level and there's a small amount of oil in there. Engine runs fine, there's no steam from the exhaust and I've just checked the plugs and they seem normal. It's not losing any water, just gaining some oil! Is there a way to rule out the head gasket and point it towards the oil cooler? Is it wise to drive 600 miles in the next week based on the above information...? It's a 2l 16v btw. Timing from the C is once again, impeccable... Water was fine a week ago when I did an oil change... :mad2: Cheers!

Just dug this one out as I hit a pothole last night and wrote off a tyre... Surely though braking into a pothole is the last thing you want to be doing, you're just pushing more weight forwards onto the wheels that will take the impact. And a pothole is considerably harder to see than a bollard or speed hump.

Can't really fault the vibratech mount. Had it on there for about 5 years now without any trouble at all out of it. Engine is held securely in there with hardly any movement, but there's no excess noise or vibration in the cabin from it. I'd def recommend it over the rubbishy ones from ECP (went through 2 of those in a year before buying this one...)

Anyone know what thsi solenoid does then?? Why would it cause the car to lose power at the 1800rpm mark??

Same as I think!! Cheers for the info... At the end of the day I'm quite glad I was stuck behind the person who I had but a mile up the road berated loudly at for sticking to the speed limit on the way to work!!! (windows closed, just a release of stress you know...) Useful info none-the-less and I'll be taking it easy round here from now on...

Couldn't find anything using the search, though I think I've seen something about this in the site somewhere... Driving in today there were police doing a roadside speed check. I thought I read somewhere that they can only do this within a certain distance from a 'speed check' sign. 500m or 1km or something. There's no sign down this road anywhere and I was wondering if anyone they caught could be fined. I agree with them checking through that village though as there's a few nasty turnings on bends but there's no sign warning of it... So basically, can you be caught by a mobile speed trap if there's no sign warning you it could be there within a certain distance?

You could bung them a few extra ££ and get the rear smoothed off, the rubbing strips removed etc etc... I did that when I managed to reverse into a post in a multi storey... doh... Make something good come out of something bad...

I'd try and fight it. At the end of the day you'd only just got the car back on the road, it was mid month, and they must have records of when you applied for it. If I'd bought a new car I'd have to have it outside my house on the road, if it wasn't taxed and I'd applied for it on the day I bought the car I couldn't display it until it arrived... Use this argument... It's gotta be worth a try, what have you got to lose?

It's a lot less distracting if you drop a sandwich than a lit fag... All company cars are now smoke free anyway...

:shocked!: OMG!!! How will you ever drive it?? Could you leave it unguarded in Sainsbury's without pulling your hair out in worry??!!! Not really looking to spend quite that much! (but I'll no doubt envy the finish on yours!!)

My car is starting to look a bit tired in general, someone's keyed the drivers side, and now thanks to a dodgy handbrake leting it roll backwards into a hedge/fence I've got a nice big scratch down the passengers side as well. Couple this with the first spot of rust I've found on it (A-pillar right near the wing) I think it's time to get it blown over... I'd ideally like to change the colour, not by much. It's black at the moment, but I'd like it done diamond black. Does anyone know a rough sort of price for this kind of job? I might get the roof channels filled in (like on G60 BV's) as well depending on how much is in the bank. Also, could anyone reccomend a good sprayers in the South East, Surrey/West Sussex...? Looking to get it done in about a months time as mum's away for a bit then and I can use her car... Cheers, Ant.

If he's got no interest and has to take it to a garage every time something breaks it'll bankrupt him!!!

Verbal agreements eh! Might be worth using your phone as a recorder, switch the video on even if you're not using it, so any admissions of guilt can be proved. He could have turned around and said you went up the back of him, who'd know the difference other than you...

Looks like a ford probe....

Jees Rick, is your house short of mirrors or something? Do you family just come out and use your bonnet instead??! Looks nice. Would be better in black though!! :shock: You'll have to take me out with this super cool air con unit installed... Not sure if you've said if it's been pressurised yet. If it has, can you feel a drain on power when it's switched on. Also, given the current climate, I'm finding that my heaters are of more use than air-con...! (I'm gunna have to polish mine now...) oh, and; If only you knew...!!! lol!!

Now one of those ideas I like a lot. I'll leave it to your imagination which one...